Royal Heroine
Encyclopedia
Royal Heroine was an Thoroughbred
Champion
Filly
racehorse
foaled in Ireland
who raced in England
and France
and then in the United States
where she set a North American
for a mile on turf
while winning the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Mile
in 1984.
Bred by Larry Ryan, a chairman of the Irish National Stud
, Royal Heroine was out of the mare My Sierra Leone, a daughter of the 1963 Epsom Derby
winner, Relko
. Her sire, Lypheor, was a son of Lyphard
who twice had been the Leading sire in France
. Raced by one of the United Kingdom's
most prominent horsemen, Robert Sangster
, her trainer in Europe
was Sir Michael Stoute
.
Racing at age two, Royal Heroine won two of four starts including a victory in the Princess Margaret Stakes
at Ascot Racecourse
. At age three, she won England's Child Stakes
at the Newmarket Racecourse
and the Prix de l'Opéra
at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris
, France
.
Royal Heroine was sent to race on the West Coast of the United States
where she was conditioned by trainer John Gosden
. At age four, her career almost ended when she was the third horse in a three-horse accident during the running of the Santa Ana Handicap
. Although two horses died and Royal Heroine's jockey Fernando Toro was hospitalized, she came out of the accident with only minor scratches. Recovered, she went on win four major races plus she won the Palomar Handicap but was disqualified to third. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E6DC1039F93AA25750C0A962948260
at Hollywood Park Racetrack, Royal Heroine defeated a field of nine male horses. Ridden by Fernando Toro, she set a track and North American
record for a mile on turf. Her performances in 1984 earned her American Champion Female Turf Horse honors.
Hollywood Park Racetrack named a stakes race
in Royal Heroine's honor which was changed in 2006 to the CashCall Mile Invitational Stakes
.
Retired for breeding, Royal Heroine produced seven foals. Although bred to notable sire
s such as Sadler's Wells
and American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed
, none achieved success in racing. However, her daughter Castilian Queen (Diesis) did produce the French Grade 1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Carmine Lake (Royal Academy).
According to the British Racing Post
, Royal Heroine died at age twenty-two.
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
Filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
foaled in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
who raced in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and then in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where she set a North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
for a mile on turf
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
while winning the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Mile
Breeders' Cup Mile
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
in 1984.
Bred by Larry Ryan, a chairman of the Irish National Stud
Irish National Stud
The Irish National Stud is a Thoroughbred horse breeding facility based at Tully, Kildare, County Kildare, Ireland...
, Royal Heroine was out of the mare My Sierra Leone, a daughter of the 1963 Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
winner, Relko
Relko
Relko was a French Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1963 Epsom Derby. A grandson of Tantieme, he was owned by French hotelier, François Dupré and bred at his stud farm in Pont-d'Ouilly in the Basse-Normandie region....
. Her sire, Lypheor, was a son of Lyphard
Lyphard
Lyphard was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an important sire. American bred in Pennsylvania, Lyphard was a son of Northern Dancer out of the mare Goofed. He was auctioned as a weanling at November's Keeneland Sales to Tim Rogers, a horseman from Ireland, who then put him up for sale at...
who twice had been the Leading sire in France
Leading sire in France
The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in France for each year since 1887. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the season .-----References:* -See also:*...
. Raced by one of the United Kingdom's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
most prominent horsemen, Robert Sangster
Robert Sangster
Robert Edmund Sangster was a British businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. He was British flat racing Champion Owner five times and his horses won many major races, including two Epsom Derbys, four Irish Derbys, two French Derbys, three Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes and a Melbourne...
, her trainer in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
was Sir Michael Stoute
Michael Stoute
Sir Michael Ronald Stoute is a Barbadian British thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Stoute, whose father was the Chief of police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assistant to trainer Pat Rohan and began training horses on his own in 1972...
.
Racing at age two, Royal Heroine won two of four starts including a victory in the Princess Margaret Stakes
Princess Margaret Stakes
The Princess Margaret Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July....
at Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
. At age three, she won England's Child Stakes
Falmouth Stakes
The Falmouth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:The event is named in honour of...
at the Newmarket Racecourse
Newmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...
and the Prix de l'Opéra
Prix de l'Opéra
The Prix de l'Opéra is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.The event was established in 1974, and it was...
at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Royal Heroine was sent to race on the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
where she was conditioned by trainer John Gosden
John Gosden
John Gosden is a racehorse trainer. Having trained over 2,000 winners since his return to England in 1989, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the King George, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger, he is generally considered one of the most successful racehorse trainers of...
. At age four, her career almost ended when she was the third horse in a three-horse accident during the running of the Santa Ana Handicap
Santa Ana Handicap
The Santa Ana Handicap is a Thoroughbred horse race run at annually Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California during the third week of March. The race is open to fillies and mares, age four and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf....
. Although two horses died and Royal Heroine's jockey Fernando Toro was hospitalized, she came out of the accident with only minor scratches. Recovered, she went on win four major races plus she won the Palomar Handicap but was disqualified to third. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E6DC1039F93AA25750C0A962948260
1984 Breeders' Cup
In winning the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup MileBreeders' Cup Mile
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
at Hollywood Park Racetrack, Royal Heroine defeated a field of nine male horses. Ridden by Fernando Toro, she set a track and North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
record for a mile on turf. Her performances in 1984 earned her American Champion Female Turf Horse honors.
Hollywood Park Racetrack named a stakes race
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
in Royal Heroine's honor which was changed in 2006 to the CashCall Mile Invitational Stakes
CashCall Mile Invitational Stakes
The Royal Heroine Mile Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of July at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. Contested at a distance of one mile on turf, it is open to horses aged three and older...
.
Retired for breeding, Royal Heroine produced seven foals. Although bred to notable sire
Sire
Sire may refer to:* Father, the counterpart of a dam, particularly in animal breeding. See also stallion* James W. Sire, author on worldviews* Sire Records, a record label* Sire Advertising, an advertising agency...
s such as Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells (horse)
Sadler's Wells was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was later a leading sire in France, Great Britain & Ireland and North America during the 1990s. He was foaled in 1981 in the United States, but achieved most of his racing and breeding fame in Europe....
and American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
, none achieved success in racing. However, her daughter Castilian Queen (Diesis) did produce the French Grade 1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Carmine Lake (Royal Academy).
According to the British Racing Post
Racing Post
The Racing Post is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting newspaper, appearing in print form and online.From 30 May 2011 - 3 July 2011 it had a circulation of 56,507.-History:...
, Royal Heroine died at age twenty-two.